Although she was emotionally drained, her body still tingled from making love with Jason. And that’s what they’d done. For the first time they’d made love with no emotional barriers between them. She’d felt it in every fiber of her being. Felt him.
Just as she felt his regard on her now. “What?” she asked, focusing on his steady stare.
“I was just wondering what’s got you so distracted?”
While showering, she’d been thinking about where they could go from here, and she spoke before she could chicken out. “Come with me,” she said to him.
“What?”
“Come with me to Paris,” she said, her excitement building now that she’d let herself say the words aloud.
Stunned, he slowly lowered his cup to the table. “And then what?” he asked, his enthusiasm nowhere in sight.
Panic enveloped her, hammering away at the heart she’d just given to him so openly. “Well, you could be with me when my designs debut. We could see Paris together. And then…” Her voice trailed off.
He reached out and placed his warm, strong hands over hers. “And then I come to New York and do what while you soar to the top of your profession and achieve your dreams?” he asked gently.
“We’ll figure it out together.” But even as she spoke, she saw the light in his eyes dim.
“I know what it’s like to have goals and a dream. And without those things now, I’m lost.” He spread his hands in front of him. “Before you showed up, I was grumpy and nobody wanted to be near me. I thought I’d pushed past it, but lately I’ve been forced to admit…I don’t know who I am or what I want. But I do know I can’t live off your money and your success. I need to define my own.” His tone implored her to understand.
“I get it. And I respect what you’re saying, but-”
She’d learned at a young age not to push people for more than they were able to give.
Bracing her hands on the table, she rose to her feet. “I feel sorry for you, because you don’t know what you’re missing.” She wrapped her pride tightly around her and strode from the room.
It was so ironic. There had been too many people in her life who’d found her lacking, and now here was Jason, the love of her life, telling her she was too much for him. She couldn’t take it. Because though his reasons were different from her sister’s and her parents’, he was still doing the same thing. Rejecting her, who she was and what she offered him.
To hell with all of them. She couldn’t get out of this town fast enough.
LAUREN SPENT the rest of the day in a frenzy of activity. She called Sharon, who picked her up at Jason’s. Together they ran errands in town while Jason headed to the house to meet up with his crew.
First Lauren called on the real estate agent who’d arranged the original sale. The woman agreed to contact the buyers, explain the situation and ultimately refund their escrow money. Then once the insurance company inspected the new damage, Lauren arranged to relist the house-as is. On Sharon’s recommendation, Lauren hired a service to clean out the house, box the remainder of her grandmother and sister’s items, and give them to the Salvation Army.
A whirlwind morning and she’d accomplished more than she’d thought possible. In fact, she could get away from this town and its memories by nightfall.
Sharon accompanied her back to the house so she could fill Jason in.
“Are you sure you want to rush out of here?” Sharon asked, not for the first time this afternoon.
Lauren nodded as they walked up the front walk together. The acrid stench of smoke filled the air, reminding her of everything painful. “I’m sure. And I’m not rushing. If anything, I gave everything and everyone here plenty of chances. It’s past time for me to leave.”
Using her key, Lauren unlocked the front door and stepped back, letting Sharon precede her inside.
“Lauren, is that you?” Jason called out to her.
“Yes. I’m here with Sharon.”
“You’re never going to believe what I found.”
Lauren glanced at Sharon.
“Any clue?” her friend asked.
Lauren shook her head. “Not one. Let’s go find out.”
Lauren hadn’t been in the bedroom since last night and she wasn’t thrilled about going in there now.
Turned out she didn’t have to. Jason met her in the hall, the cat under one arm and what looked like a black velvet pouch in his other.
“What’s going on?” Sharon asked.
“That’s what I’d like to know!” Lauren said.
“Let’s go somewhere where it doesn’t smell so bad.” Jason handed Trouble to her and they followed him back down the hall.
“I couldn’t find the cat,” Jason said as soon as they were in the kitchen. “Last time I saw him he was stalking mice, but he was nowhere to be found. Of course he was in the last place I checked.”
“The bedroom.” Lauren placed Trouble on the kitchen floor.
“Actually your grandmother’s office. But he escaped on me again and I just recaptured him in the bedroom. Anyway, the mice had apparently been nesting in the office fireplace.”
“Thank God we didn’t light a fire in there!”
“You’re telling me.” Jason laughed. “Look what the mice had stashed in there.” He held up the jewelry pouch. “Trouble here found it when he was sniffing after the rodents.”
Lauren shuddered. She might have spent one night alone with the mice but she hadn’t grown to like them.
Jason opened the threadbare pouch and poured a handful of diamonds onto the kitchen table.
“Are they real?” Sharon asked, leaning closer for a better look.
“They’d have to be appraised to know for sure,” Jason said.
Lauren couldn’t tear her gaze from the diamonds. “Tell me where you found them again?” she asked.
“Inside the fireplace,” Jason said. “What’s wrong?”
“In the hearth! Of the house!” Lauren cried, pieces of an old family puzzle suddenly coming together.
“I’m confused,” Sharon said.
“Hang on and you won’t be.” Lauren’s heart pumped in excitement. “I found an old diary in my grandmother’s night table. We think that’s what my sister was looking for when she came back here.” She glanced at Jason. “Remember the diary mentioned an offering. And then it said something about the heart of the house. Maybe it really read the hearth of the house! Don’t you see? Those diamonds are the offering my ancestors used to place the curse!”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LOUD BANGING woke Jason. He tumbled out of bed, his head pounding as if a freight train was rolling through it. Why did he have a hangover the likes of which he never wanted to experience again?
Another loud, banging knock sounded at his door. “I’m coming!”
He swung his door open wide to find his entire family standing outside. With a groan, the reasons for his hangover came flooding back.
Two days ago, he’d found the diamonds. Then Lauren had made the connection between the jewels and the Corwin Curse and she’d immediately called Clara to come over. Clara, with her otherworldly wisdom, had revealed that the offering-in this case the diamonds-was the key to breaking the curse. It was up to Lauren Perkins to figure out how.
Lauren had figured it out immediately. She’d turned the jewels over to the Corwin family, giving the offering to the cursed family and thereby breaking the curse forever, at least according to Clara.
All good news until in the midst of the chaos, Lauren had snuck out, leaving his family to celebrate and Jason with a note. I hope you find what you’re searching for. Love, Lauren. To add insult to injury, she’d asked Sharon to look after her cat while she was in Paris. Not Jason.